High School Never Ends
by BrambleclawIsMyHomeboy12
Summary: All Human story that sends our favorite vampires to high shcool. A serious story, full of Drama, angst, romance, conflict, and unexpected twists. Rated T becuase there not a Rating for Life! Please R
1. Character Lists

Okay, here's the info on this fanfiction. Unlike The Vampire Academy, this story is serious, so bear with me.

This page is mainly to show the basic relationship between the characters that will happen in this fic.

There is no slash.

The only OC's will be certain teachers and random classmates.

This will mainly have Vampire Mountain characters, but a few others will be included.

This is the list of characters, their ages and relationship with other people:

Darren Shan- sophomore-age 16- Larten's younger half-brother-Harkat's best friend

Harkat Smahlt- sophomore-age 16- Kurda's twin brother- Darren's best friend

Kurda Smahlt- sophomore- age 16- Harkat's twin brother

Debbie Hemlock- sophomore- age 16- New girl

Steve "Leopard"- sophomore- age 16- ?

Larten Crepsley- junior-age 17- Darren's older half-brother-dating Arra

Arra Sails- junior-age 17- Larten's girlfriend at the beginning

Gavner Purl- junior- age 17- Larten's best friend

Vancha Harst/March-junior- age 17- Gannen's brother

Gannen Harst/March-junior-age 17- Vancha's brother

Alice Burgess- junior- age 17- new girl

Seba Nile- senior- age 18- Paris's best friend and Arra's neighbor

Paris Skyle- senior- age 18- Seba's best friend

Arrow ?- senior- age 18- Mika's best friend and step-brother

Mika Ver Leth- senior- age 18- Arrow's best friend and step brother

Those are all of the students here's all the faculty and staff:

Desmond Tiny- principal

Hibernious Tall- Sophomore teacher

Evanna Tiny- Junior Teacher

Vanez Blane- Senior Teacher and Sports Coach

Murlough- Custodian

That's all the staff so here's the other people:

Angela Shan- Darren's and Larten's mom

Dermot Shan- Darren's dad; Larten's step-dad because only Angela knows his real dad

Jesse and Donna Hemlock- Debbie's parents

Mr. L.O.T. Shadows (Mr. Shadows)- Alice's step-dad

That's all of them, and it may seem complicated, but it won't be! It will all make sense once I start posting the story. Bear with me. I will continue this story based on positive feedback, so if everyone hates it, I'll stop posting, but if I get happy reviewers, I'll keep writing.

Let me know if you saw any problems with this, because it's all very important. I'll post Chapter one sometime tomorrow!

CarlisleCullenIsMyHomeboy12

Don't own the series, just playing around, although I wouldn't say no to Larten. :)


	2. First Days and First Impressions

Larten pulled us into the elementary school parking lot, stopping in the drop off lane to let our sister Annie out of the car. After he had inherited the beat up Camaro when he finally got his driver's license, he had been taking me and Annie to school, so we didn't have to ride the bus.

Annie was in fourth grade, and as the youngest and only girl in our family, didn't spend that much time with the two of us. I waved to her as she ran off to her friends, before Larten pulled off down the road.

Io looked over at my brother, he had gotten dressed up for the first day of school. His dark ginger hair was combed, and he was wearing the dark red polo that he saved for church. My guess was that it was to impress Arra, his girlfriend, or "summer romance" as mom called it. My dad just shrugged and ignored it, romance was not his thing. That bothered mom quite a bit, she said Larten needed a male role model in his life since he had never actually met his birth father.

Larten's dad had, according to my mom, been her high school sweetheart named Grayson Crepsley, who she had met up with after college. From that came my brother, but he left before he was born. So my dad, Dermot Shan, was the closest thing to an actual father Larten had ever had.

We pulled into the high school parking lot, and he pulled it to a screeching stop, the brakes going haywire again. "See you later." I told him, before grabbing my backpack and climbing out of the car. "Thanks for the ride."

He just nodded, before reaching back into the seat for his stuff. Larten was a quiet guy, but he was pretty cool.

"Hey, Darren!" I heard a shout from the front door. I whipped around; it was Harkat, my best friend, and his brother, Kurda. I grinned; it had been about two weeks since I had seen them.

With one last glance at Larten, who was climbing out of the car, I ran over to my friends. "Hey, Harkat, Kurda."

Harkat smiled at me, his white teeth catching the August sun, while Kurda smiled a small smile and adjusted his backpack straps. For twins, they really didn't look that much alike. Harkat was short, with some serious muscle, short-cut black hair, and green eyes. Kurda was tall and thin, with long blonde hair and really blue eyes.

"Let's go get our schedules." Harkat turned around, shifting his duffle bag from one arm to the other, and led us inside. The lobby was packed; hundreds of kids were running around, looking for friends and schedules. I saw a couple I knew.

Standing in the sophomore line was Steve Leopard, who wasn't really a bully, but you didn't mess with him. Vancha March, or Vancha Harst, depending on his mood, was standing with his brother, Gannen, on the far end of the lobby laughing at the freshmen who were staring at him. And, finally, there was my brother; leaning up against the far wall with his girlfriend, talking about god knows what. They must have come in the side door, or I defiantly would have seen them enter.

Arra's not the prettiest girl I've ever seen, but she was fairly attractive. She was wearing a black shirt with kind of ruffled edges, and her hair was shiny. Like a new penny. I defiantly would have noticed if she had walked by me earlier.

"Come on, Darren. I want to see what classes we got." And with that, Harkat disappeared into the throng of people, leaving me and Kurda to fend for ourselves. With a shrug, we followed him, pushing our way through the growing crowd. After five minutes of wrestling, we found ourselves behind Harkat in the junior schedule line.

"Were you trying to get us killed?" I asked panting. Harkat turned around and grinned at us, before turning back around to hop back and forth impatiently in the line. My mind began to wonder, as we moved like turtles through the line. I wondered what classes I would have, whether or not I would have any with Harkat and Kurda, and even when lunch block was. These things were important.

I wasn't paying any attention, so when Steve walked by I barely noticed. "Hey Shan." He said, and then punched me in the shoulder before walking off to meet up with some other guys. I stumbled backwards, right into the person behind me.

"Sorry." I turned around to see a girl. Not just any girl, a beautiful girl. She had dark hair that flowed over her shoulder and chocolate brown eyes that I couldn't help but stare into. "He-----, he uh, pushed me."

"I know." She said, and smiled at me. Her teeth glowing. "I'm Debbie, Debbie Hemlock."

"I'm Darren, Darren Shan." I answered her, surprised that my voice still worked. To save nay more awkward seconds, Kurda turned around and pulled me up to the table. As relieved as I was that he had gotten me out of that situation, for just a second I really wanted to hit him.

"Name?" The man on the desk said, his glasses bobbing around on his face.

"Darren Shan." He riffled through the big stack of papers, hunting for my name.

"Richards, Roswell, Sanders, Shan." He pulled out a piece of yellow paper, "Here you are." I took the paper form him, saying a rushed thanks as Debbie stepped up to take my place.

"Alright, so what'd you get?" Harkat, asked, staring at his paper which was a nice shade of puce green.

"First is Algebra 2, then Life Science, then American History, then Business Principles, then Lunch, the I have a free period before gym and finally English II." I read off my schedule, trying to organize it in my head.

"I have the same classes, except Life Science and English II are switched." Harkat said, looking pretty happy that we were getting that many together. "What about you, bro?"

"I have Lunch, free period and gym at the same time as you guys." He said sheepishly.

"Better than none." I told him, before looking over at Steve. "Wonder what he got?"

While Harkat verbally voiced what he thought Steve had gotten for his classes, I watched Kurda. He looked nervous, and I didn't blame him. Kurda was incredibly smart, and t had already taken pre-calculus, AP European history, and trigonometry during our freshman year. Unfortunately, he was also vey shy, and got nervous about almost everything. But I liked him; he could be a lot of fun.

"STUDENTS!" A loud call form the front of the lobby turned everyone's head to around man wearing a pin-stripe suit and rain-boots, Mr. Tiny, the principal. He kind of scared me, but then again, he scared everyone. "Class will start in five minutes so get your schedules and be making your way down the hall."

As soon as he was done, everyone started talking again. Harkat was looking over Kurda's schedule and yelling about how many advanced classes he was taking, so I looked around the room for some other people. I saw Larten and Arra walking down the front hallway towards there class, and Steve Leopard with his bunch of cronies going the same direction. My eyes trailed over them and found Debbie, standing by herself.

"I'll be right back guys." I said to the twins, and then waked over to her. "Hey."

"Oh, hi Darren." She glanced at me and looked down at her schedule. She looked worried, I guess it's because she was new and had no idea where to go.

"What classes do you have?" I tried to look at her schedule, but I couldn't see it.

"Algebra II, Life Science, American History, Business Principles, Lunch, Free period, Gym, and English II." She rattled off the list, and my heart soared, she had every class with me!

"I have the same classes!" I almost said to loud, "I can show you where they are, if you want?" I said it like a question, afraid she might be offended.

"That'd be great." She smiled at me again, and I walked us over to Harkat and Kurda.

"Hey guys," I grabbed the schedule from them so they'd stop fighting, "This is Debbie."

"I'm Harkat, brother to a smart-ass." Harkat stuck out his hand and glared at Kurda.

"I'm Kurda, brother to an idiot." Kurda just smiled. After Debbie didn't shake his hand, Harkat dropped it. She gave me a look that said, Do they always do this? I nodded.

"Please clear out the hallway!" Mr. Tiny had reappeared in the doorway, staring right at us. "Wouldn't want to be late, would we?"

If only to avoid his creepy eyes, I led us down the hallway. We passed rooms full of teachers and students and maneuvered our way down the hallway. Halfway there Kurda split off form our group to go to his math class, Calculus. Harkat rolled his eyes, but we kept walking.

Eventually we reached our door, number 201, sophomore class 2. This was a small school, so we only had two teachers for each grade, and another for all the advanced courses. Unlike Harkat, I had the same teacher all day. Mr. Tall, that's a weird name.

I pushed open the door, and the three of us stepped inside. As soon as I got a glimpse of the teacher, I didn't think his name was so weird anymore. He wasn't just tall, he was huge! At least seven feet, with black eyes and choppy black hair. Most of the rest of the class were already seated, and by the looks of it we could sit where we wanted. Me, Harkat, and Debbie sat in a cluster of three desks near the middle of the room, behind Steve and Gary Weston, a big red-haired kid with serious issues.

"Welcome. Welcome to a new year at high school." Mr. tall said, the second the bell had rung. His voice was touched with an unfamiliar accent, and it was deep, already adding to his intimidating appearance. "I hope we will all get along this year."

Most of us just kind of stared at him, but Steve snorted loudly. "A problem Mr. Leonard?" Mr. Tall turned his black gaze form all of us to Steve, who flinched and straightened in his chair, waving his head form side to side.

"As long as we are quiet," He slowly tore his gaze from Steve, "I will allow you to sit where you want." Everyone smiled and began to whisper excitedly, until we noticed Mr. Tall staring at us, I didn't get the felling discipline would be a problem.

We ran through the standard roll, and I tried to match the names with faces, but by the sixth name they all ran together. I would remember them later, when it was more important. Then we got our locker assignments. I got a top, thank god, in between Michael Sanford, and Jerry Springfield. The day was going pretty smooth, and then came lunch time.

I told Debbie she could eat with us if she wanted, and she readily agreed. So the three of us, plus Kurda once we got into the main hallway, headed off to what should have been an ordinary lunch period.

To celebrate the first day there was pizza and chips, or soy burgers for the vegetarians, all two of them. We picked a table in the middle of the lunch room. As we sat down, I saw Larten and Arra going out the door, holding hands with her leaning on his shoulder. Gavner Purl, Larten's best friend was right behind them, rolling his eyes. I laughed to myself as Harkat went into some big discussion about his English II teacher, Mrs. Burrows, and how she really needed to lay off the eye-liner.

All was well, until the people at the table behind us let out a scream. It was so loud I had to cover my ears! I whipped around, all the girls but one were standing up, there trays abandoned, but one sat frozen in fear. In the middle of the table was the biggest tarantula I had ever seen! It was huge, with gray and black markings on its back.

I love spiders! I know that's a little weird, but I don't get why people are so bothered by them, they're fascinating. I watched it as the people around the cafeteria took up the scream that the table of girls had issued. Without warning, the spider ran forward, crawling on the girl's piece of pizza. With a frenzied shriek, she jumped up, launching her tray out of her hands into the air. The spider jumped off and landed off the table.

The last thing I saw was a pepperoni getting bigger as it came near my face, then the tray hit my temple and everything went black.

* * *

I opened my eyes to a really bright light, and a couple of blurry faces. One was Larten, I could tell by his red shirt, one was Harkat, I could see his green eyes, and the other was Debbie, her hair kind of stood out in the blurry background.

"Get away from the bed!" I heard a loud call, the school nurse, Ms. Cartwright. "Do you want to traumatize him?"

My friends' faces disappeared and were replaced by the stern face off the nurse. I squinted up at her. "He'll live." That's Mrs. Cartwright for ya', straight and to the point.

"The day's over. I'll help him to the car and we'll go home." That was Larten, and his face came back beside the nurse. My vision was less blurred and I was aware of this throbbing in the side of my head. Reaching a hand p I felt around my temple. A huge knot greeted my fingertips, and I knew I had some pretty marvelous bruises.

"Lets go." I mumbled slightly, wanting all of a sudden to get out of here, Debbie could see me and it was kind of embarrassing. I sat up slowly, letting out a long breath, before swinging my legs over the side of the hospital bed. I stumbled but Larten caught me and together, he and Harkat steered me to the door.

We wobbled to the car like a three legged race, but eventually we made and I flopped down into the passenger seat. Larten went around the car and got in started as I started to close the door. A hand caught it.

"Sorry about your head Darren." It was Debbie. Then she kissed my cheek and shut the door for me.

I could have been flying the whole way home.

(A/N) I'm glad to see all the interest in this story! I've wanted to do this ever since I heard the song High School Never Ends, by Bowling for soup. Love the song, you should check it out if you haven't heard it. Please R&R, but don't flame, that depresses me for a few days.


	3. Walkins and Schoolyard Brawls

I was in the car with Larten again, this time, sporting a hat. My mother had made some calls, seeing the knot on my head, and the principal had decided to make and exception to the rule and let me wear this hat. It was my dad's, with a picture of all of us at Sea World. Not what I would have picked, but it was the only one that fit.

Larten had smiled when he first saw me put on the hat, but his face had returned to its usual frown. Mom always said he was really uptight, which was true, but she didn't know why. I did.

We pulled into the parking lot, and pulled up beside Arra's Mini Cooper. Our beat up '86 Camaro had never really looked more out of place. I got out of the car, seeing Harkat and Kurda walking to the front door, and Arra walking over to our vehicle. Saying a muffled good-bye to my brother, and straightening my hat, I climbed out of the car.

"Hey guys," I shouted. They turned around as I came up behind them.

"Hey Darren," Harkat said, reaching up to smack the uninjured side of Darren's head, "How's the head?"

"Oh, get off!" I pushed him away. Even Kurda laughed. Then Debbie came up behind us.

"Hey guys." She said. I turned towards Debbie.

"Hey, Debbie." I turned to reach into my backpack; I had found something I thought she might like at my house. It was a keychain with a smiley face on the end, it matched her binder, and after yesterday I really wanted to give it to her. I hunted through my backpack, digging through all the pockets, but it wasn't there.

Then I remembered, I had left it in the car! "Be right back guys!" I yelled and then ran off.

"Hurry up dude, the bells gonna' ring!" Harkat yelled to my back. I nodded and ran back to the car, swerving around a car that almost hit me. I ran back to the car, glancing at my watch, 8:07, three minutes before the bell rang. I picked up speed, reaching the back off the car.

Without really paying attention, I opened up the passenger door; sitting on the seat was my keychain. Leaning into the car, I grabbed it off the seat, smiling to myself, and began to pull out, when I looked up, and gasped.

Oh. My. God. They were making-out on the front seat.

Slack-jawed I could only stare at them, while they pretty much chewed each others faces off. They were so far into it, they didn't even notice me, and I retreated form the car as quick as I could, my face twisted up in disgust and shock. That was something I never needed to see.

Shaking my head, I walked unstably back to the building, that image would forever be burned into my brain. 8:09, no matter how I was feeling I had to get back before class started. For some reason I didn't think Larten and Arra were interested in going to first period, but that was just a guess.

"Glad to see you are back, Darren." Mr. Tall said as I ran into the room at exactly 8:10. I nodded to him and went to my seat behind Harkat. Slumping down, my face still frozen in a shocked mask, I stared at Mr. Tall as he read off roll, raising my hand when he called off my name. Pushing the image of my brother and his girlfriend, out of my head, I tried to concentrate on the Algebra we were supposed to be doing, it wasn't all that easy.

I kept shaking my head all through first period, attempting, uselessly, to get that image out of my head. Harkat and Debbie were giving me some really weird stares. Harkat always joked that he was waiting for the day that I finally lost it; he probably thought that moment had come.

After thirty basic problems, I decided to put my backpack in my locker at class change. The bell rang, and I left. Grabbing my backpack, I walked over to my locker, what I didn't notice was that Debbie had followed me out. I opened it up and threw my backpack inside, then shut the door.

I jumped backwards in shock. Debbie was standing behind where my door had been, staring at me like I was an idiot.

"Do you have a headache or something?" She asked, "You were shaking your head all first block."

"Uhhhhhhh, no. I was just---- trying to concentrate." She didn't here me add, "On anything but that."

"Okay then. Why did you go back to your car, me and Harkat waited forever for you." She glanced at the clock; we still had a couple of minutes before we had to get back.

"I almost forgot," I reached into my pocket and pulled out the key-chain. It was big and happy as ever. "Here, I thought you might like this."

"It's so cute!" She said, and took it from my hand. "Thanks, Darren." Without thinking about it, and without asking anymore awkward questions, she clipped it to her purse, and turned to go back to class. Breathing my relief I followed her in.

Life Science went uneventful; class wasn't as much fun without Harkat. In fact, the whole day went uneventful, even lunch. We had this weird looking lasagna, and a potato, along with frozen fruit bars. Did you know that there all made with Apple Juice? Neither did I.

Then it was time for free period. One freshman, one sophomore, one junior and one senior class had free period at the same time. Since Kurda had lunch with us, and not his AP classmates, he was considered in our class. Weird I know.

I was walking with Harkat, Kurda, and Debbie, listening to Harkat tell some story about his Life Science teacher calling him "Her-cat" instead of his name. It was actually pretty funny.

"Her-cat, will you please pass out these papers? Her-cat will you please stop talking?" He kept saying in an almost perfect imitation of her voice. We all laughed, and then a call form up the hall distracted me.

This part contains cussing.

I walked up there, a little confused. "Get off, kid!" I knew that voice, it was Arra!

Without waiting for him to move, she shoved him into the lockers and walked past him. It was Steve, I should have guessed. "Damn Crepsley," My brother was standing there, glaring at Steve, "Your girlfriend's a bitch."

Larten glared at him for a second, before lunging at Steve. "Hey, Larten!" I tried to yell, but a crowd was gathering and my voice was lost in the shouts. I scrambled to get closer to them, but some blonde girl blocked my way.

Larten had Steve pinned to the ground, beating the living snot out of him, when Gary Weston came into the fight. He was huge, the basketball center, and the football front lineman. Grabbing my brother's shoulders he wrenched him off Steve, and slammed him; face first, into the lockers.

Pushing the blonde girl out of the way, I moved to help him. I never got the chance. A medium sized guy, with long black hair stepped up behind Gary, and with one punch to the ribs, he dropped my brother. A bald kid, already decorated with tattoo's came up next to him, grabbing Steve, as he reached for Larten again.

A small person, with light brown hair, wearing all red came, came up to the fight scene. I knew them form somewhere, not personally, but I had seen there picture. The small guy smiled, and suddenly I knew who they were, at least one of them, the small one was Seba Nile, a senior who was in charge of a lot of things, and this year's valedictorian. Not technically, but everyone knew he'd get it.

He kind of stared at Larten, whose nose was bleeding form being smashed into a locker, and motioned for him to move sideways. He did, and Seba stepped up and opened the locker door, pulling out a chemistry book.

All looked like it was going to be fine, until Gary swung his foot backwards into the black-haired kids, well, private area. He cursed loudly, and the two of them fell to the floor in a punching mess. Steve took the cue form his friend and elbowed the bald guy in the ribs, causing him to be dropped before he turned on the bald person. Both pairs collapsed on the floor, while the kid wearing red continued to look at my brother, who was watching the fight.

"Hey!" a loud yell was heard form the hallway. "What's going on here?"

The kids gathered around parted like the red sea, letting gin Vanez Blane, or Coach Blane. He was the sports coach for every sport as well as being the senior teacher. He was muscular and work sleeveless shirts to school everyday, he's not someone you would want to meet in a dark alley.

Reaching down, he grabbed the back of Steve's shirt, and the back of the black haired guy's shirt, and pulled them up off of their opponents. The bald guy and Gary got off the floor, and everyone stared at Coach Blane.

"What have we got here?" He said, dropping Steve and the other guy. "A fight?"

"Why don't you all come with me?" He pointed to the four of them, and Larten, seeing his bloody nose; he put two and two together.

"Hey wait a minute." Larten said, taking his hand off of his nose. "They," pointing at the two guys, "didn't do anything; they were keeping him from crushing me against a locker." He glared at Gary as he said it, who smirked back at him.

"It doesn't matter." Coach Blane said, "Arrow, Mika, you, let's go." He led the party down towards the office. "The rest of you, get to class!"

He was right, my gym class was about to start. But I couldn't let Larten get in trouble, because Steve was an ass. I caught up with them as the coach ushered them into the office, "Coach Blane!"

"Darren?" He turned around; he knew my name form football tryouts last year. "What?"

"It's not, no their fault." I pointed at my brother, Arrow, and Mika. "Steve called Arra, well, something he shouldn't have."

"Sorry, Shan. But its school policy, I have to take all of them to the principal." He shrugged at me one last time, before disappearing into the office after the group of them, dejected I went to gym.

After running my butt of in gym, and watching a power point on prepositions, I said good-bye to Harkat and Debbie, and then went to find my brother. I didn't see him in the halls, but I did find Arra.

"Hey Arra," I said, she looked up at me.

"Darren, have you seen Larten?" I frowned; I wasn't getting any answers out of her. I shook my head, and walked around for a few minutes. To be honest, I didn't see any of the kids who had anything to do with the fight, other that Seba, who was talking to a thin kid named Paris.

Finally, after fifteen minutes of fruitless searching, I decided to head to the car, at least he would show up there eventually. So walking out, I flopped down in the passenger's seat.

Being in the car reminded me of that morning, of Larten and Arra. Before I knew it, I was laughing my head off. I was shaking the car, it wasn't even that funny, but it seemed hilarious at the moment.

I kept laughing until Larten showed up a few minutes later. He looked upset, with a bandage on the bridge of his nose, and a wad of wet, bloody gauze in his hands. He jerked open the door and climbed in.

Slamming it behind him, he thrust the keys into the hole and started it up. I looked at him, but before I could ask. "Detention, in school, two weeks, starting Monday."

Without saying another word, he pulled out of the parking lot. We pulled up into the elementary parking lot, waiting on Annie. "Will you do me a favor?" He didn't look at me when he said it, but who else would he be talking to?

"Sure. What?" I asked, ready to do anything.

"Tonight. I need you to come to the movies with me and Arra." I was confused. "You don't have to see the movie we're seeing, you can watch whatever you want, but I just need you to go with us, Okay?"

"Uhhh, sure. Maybe I'll catch the new action flick." I said, still confused. Annie got in the car and we drove home, leaving me confused, and worried the whole way home.

(A/N) Sorry if this chapter was a little confusing, and if I made Seba seem a little weird! It all comes together. BTW, these are the longest chapter I have ever written, for any fic. Please R&R, thanks to the people who have!

Thanks to:

Roxypony  
ferretgirlsz  
Angelkitten23 


	4. Double Dating

**(A/N) The world hates me, it's finally official. Anyway, sorry I haven't updated in forever, my internet's been down since last Saturday, but now it works, after almost 48 hours of wok on it. So, you see, not my fault! Don't hate me! Thanks you for all the reviews, I love them! Please R&R this one too!**

We pulled into the driveway, and Annie got out of the car without a second thought, racing to the house. I took my time, wanting to ask Larten something. "Can I bring someone with me, if I come with you two tonight?"

He shrugged and pulled the key out of the ignition, letting the car die slowly, before opening his door. "It depends on how long I live once mom finds out about the fight." He smiled and then climbed out of the passenger car.

I beat him to the house, seeing as he had to get his stuff out of the back seat. "Hey mom," I called, "Hey dad."

"Darren, how was your second day?" My mom answered form the kitchen, "Did you get hit with anymore trays?" She meant it as a joke, but she was slightly serious to, I had a record.

"I'm all good. Thanks for asking." I threw my backpack down, as I heard Larten come into the door behind me. I headed up to my room, not really wanting to be a round if Hell broke looses in our kitchen.

"Larten, is that you? How was school?" That was the last thing I heard before I slammed my door shut.

My room wasn't that dirty, just a little mess here and there. It looked way better than Harkat's did, trust me, I had gone over to hi house last week, and almost drowned in a sea of underwear. My room was painted a light green, and had been that way for almost 10 years.

Of course, most of the paint was covered with posters. There were posters of girls, a couple form action movies, one that my dad had gotten Denzel Washington to sign, and a giant blown-up buddy picture of me, Harkat and Kurda.

I had a couple of wooden dressers, and a small ten inch TV sitting above my sock drawer, sitting next to an old soccer trophy and a soccer picture form last year. But, most importantly, at least at the moment, was the telephone sitting on the edge of my nightstand. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I dialed Harkat's number.

"Smahlt residence, Kurda speaking." I almost rolled my eyes, he sounded like a fifty year old.

"Hey Kurda, its Darren, is Harkat there, I have to ask him something." I felt bad for not taking to Kurda, but Larten and Arra's movie started at 6:30 and I still had to shower and eat dinner.

"It's Harkat." A new voice sounded at the end of the line.

"Hey Harkat." I wasn't really sure about how to go one, "Ummm, I have a question."

"Yeah?" I could tell he was a little confused about why I hadn't just said it already.

"Do you know Debbie's phone number?" I kind of blurted it out in a rush, and it would have freaked me out.

"Noooooo." He drug out the O, like he does when I ask a stupid question.

"Oh." I started thinking, not really knowing to do know, and then I remembered I had one more hope. "Do you know her parents names?"

"Yeah. Jesse and Donna. Why do you want to know?" He answered, I sighed to myself, he can be really thick sometimes.

"Never mind, just thanks. See you later." I hung up not waiting for an answer, which was kind of rude, but I was on schedule.

Opening my computer desk drawer I found the phonebook, with the picture of a really ugly tow company blaring at me from the front page. I opened the book quickly and scanned through the pages.

Hamblin, Hamsun, Hemlock! Jesse and Donna, next to a phone number, feeling all excited, I dialed it up. It rang three or four times, before a man picked up. "Hello?"

"Hello?" I said, not really knowing what to say.

"Hello? Who is this?" I could tell he was confused.

"This is Darren Shan, Debbie's friend form school, is she there?" I said it in a rush, and I wouldn't be surprised if he thought I was a nut. I had probably ruined my chances of even getting to talk to Debbie.

"Sure, one second, Darren!" Okay, so it didn't turn out as bad as I thought. Oh, well, alls well that ends well.

"This is Debbie." Debbie's voice came over the receiver, and I tensed up, not really sure what to say.

"Hey Debbie, its Darren." I answered, surprised that my voice still worked.

"Hey Darren, what's up?" At least she sounded happy to see me.

"I was wondering, I was wondering, if maybe you would like to go see a movie with me?" I asked, my voice turning up at the last words.

"Sure, when are we going?" I was stupefied by shock for a second, she actually wanted to go with me!

"Uhhh, tonight, the 7 O'clock show. I'll pick you up." I said, she said that sounded great and hung up to get ready. My heart thumping in my chest, I grabbed my clothes and headed to the shower.

Twenty minutes later, I was stepping out of the shower, fresh and clean in my blue and white striped polo. My hair was till damp, but it was starting to dry in the rugged look that Larten says I should wear. If I do say so myself, I look pretty damn good.

I grabbed my wallet off my nightstand and headed downstairs to wait on Larten. A few minutes of sitting on the couch watching SpongeBob with Annie, and I was ready to tear my hair out. Then my salvation from Patrick's stupidity arrived down the stairs. It was Larten, dressed up in a red and white striped polo, his dark red hair actually combed.

"Ready to go?" I asked, and he nodded, grabbing his keys off the table as we headed out the front door.

"We have to go pick up Debbie." I said from the back seat.

"Debbie? Who is that?" Larten asked form the front seat, stopping at the end of our road as Mr. Jenson drove by in his '66 Beetle.

"My date." I didn't know how else to describe her.

"Where does she live?" I heard a hint of amusement in his voice. We pulled out onto the main road, me giving Larten directions. Debbie's house was on the way to Arra's so it wasn't really a big deal to pick her up. I twisted around in the backseat as we pulled in front of a white house with Hemlock printed on the mailbox.

"Be right Back." I climbed out of the car and walked up their driveway. Swallowing my already jumpy nerves I knocked on the door.

Less than two seconds later, Debbie answered the door. She looked great, wearing an Aeropostle shirt and Capri's. "Hey Darren, ready to go?"

"Hey Debbie, yeah that's my brother in the car." I pointed to the car and Larten rolled down the window. She stepped out of the door, turning to close it when a voice yelled form inside, "Be home by Elelven!"

"Sure thing dad!" She yelled back, before rolling her eyes and shutting the door. "Sorry, my parents are a little crazy." She smiled before leading the way to the car.

I opened the door for her, being a gentleman, before I got in and we drove off. "I'm assuming you are Debbie." Larten said, looking in the mirror above the dashboard at us.

"That's me. I'm guessing your Darren's brother?" Debbie said, smiling. I think it was impossible for her to feel awkward with anyone; she just seemed like that kind of person.

"Larten." That was about as far as our conversation got before we turned into Arra's driveway. When I say driveway, it's actually more like a road. She lives on the nice part of town; he parents sell private health insurance form their own company. We buy insurance from them, in fact, pretty much the whole town does. Therefore, their house is so big you can get lost just looking at the thing.

We parked out front and Arra came out of the door almost instantly, setting back the burglar system as she left. Yeah, in a town with a population of 20,000 they have a burglar alarm. But she doesn't flaunt her money, she's not snobbish, and she likes Larten for who he is, I know that because our family is extremely middle class. So I like her well enough.

"What movie are we watching?" Debbie asked, after we drove in awkward silence for a couple of minutes.

"Me and Larten are seeing the new romance movie." She smirked at Larten when she said this, making me and Debbie laugh, "What about you two?"

"Are there any mystery flicks playing?" Debbie asked, looking at me.

"I think so, that one with Brad Pitt." I couldn't remember the name, but I remembered the previews.

"Sounds good to me, if that's alright with you?" She asked me, and I nodded, we could always check the name at the theater.

We pulled into the movie parking lot a few minutes later. Let's just say that this was not the best idea in the world. Everyone in the town was there. You couldn't see the ticket booth for the throng of people surrounding it. While we were searching for a parking spot, a little man, the manager came outside.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" he was yelling and everyone actually stopped talking. "Al of our seven and nine O' clock shows are sold out!"?He turned around to go inside.

The four of us looked at each other, before Larten broke the silence. "Anyone up for Mexican food?"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later we were sitting at the local Mexican restaurant, the only people in the restaurant. We were looking over the menus, all of us crammed into a booth, with me and Debbie on one side, Larten and Arra on the other.

"So, what's everybody getting?" Arra said, looking down at the list of food items.

"Taco Salad, I think, with chicken." Debbie said. "What about you Darren?"

"Pollo bandito." I looked over it. Chicken with cheese, sounds good to me. "Larten?"

"A burrito and rice." Something was bothering him, but I couldn't tell what. "Arra?"

"A taco with rice and guacamole." She said, folding up her menu and getting some salsa on a chip.

"Welcome to Casa De Taco!" A loud voice came form behind me. It was the restaurant manager; since we were the only people in the restaurant I guess he had to pay us some attention.

"House of Taco?" Debbie whispered to me, and I stifled a laugh.

"May I take your order?" We placed our orders, and in less than ten minutes our food had arrived. Larten picked at his with his fork, something was till bothering him, but I got caught up in Debbie and Arra's conversation about Cancun. I wasn't sure I could even locate that on a map, but it was fun to here about it.

We finished up in a bout a half-hour, with all of us laughing as Debbie told us the story of her dad falling into a fish tank at the Cancun aquarium. Me, Arra, and Debbie went out to the car, leaving Larten to pay for the tab and pick up our ice-cream to-go.

Being an idiot, I had forgotten the car keys with Larten, so we were stuck outside the vehicle with a light drizzle. We pressed up close to the car, trying to keep the rain off of us. After what seemed like hours, Larten steppe doubt of the door, carrying a bag of ice cream, and a receipt. He fished the keys out of his pocket and opened up all the doors, causing us all to rush into the car.

SQUEEEAAAAAKKKKK! We were wet, and made a loud squelching sound on the seats, causing us all to laugh, with the exception of Larten, who had an odd look on his face. "Forks are in the bag." He said, before starting the car and pulling us out of the parking lot.

Arra distributed the ice cream, handing us each a fork, so we ate in silence. I may be mistaken, but I think both Arra and Debbie noticed that something wasn't right with Larten. Finally, after minutes of agonizing silence, we pulled up to Arra's door.

"Bye guys," She said to us. "Bye Larten." She turned back to him, before pulling him into a short kiss. I turned away, blushing, and looked at Debbie. She was blushing too, but they were still kissing, so Debbie, being who she is, coughed loudly.

"Sorry, had some taco shell stuck in my throat." We burst out laughing as the two of them sprang apart. Arra rolled her eyes, and shut the door. Waving good-bye to us, she walked up to our door.

Me and Debbie snickered all the way to her front door. "I'm going to walk Debbie to her door." Larten nodded, and unlocked the doors. I climbed out after her, shielding my face form the light rain.

We got to the door, and stopped. "Thanks Darren, I had a wonderful time."

I gave her a small smile, not sure what to do next. "I'll see you Monday then." Her voice had a strange mix of disappointment in it, which hurt me to here.

She gave me a small kiss on my cheek, before turning to go inside, a kiss like when I was hurt. "Debbie, wait!" I said completely on impulse. She turned around confused, and I took the opportunity.

I kissed her. Full on the lips. My heart fluttered, and my brain turned into mush. After a couple of seconds we pulled apart. "Bye, Debbie." I said, giving her a big smile and turning to walk away.

"Bye, Darren." I knew she didn't go inside; she was going to wait on us to get down the road. I got into the front seat next to Larten, whose lips were twitching in an attempt to suppress mile. I saw Debbie waving to us as Larten backed the car out of the driveway.

I waved back, and then turned to Larten, wanting to talk to him. He had his mouth open, like he was going to say something, and then closed it. He had this weird look on his face, and out of nowhere jerked his left arm to the left, making the car jerk to the left. He slammed back against the seat, his upper body twisting in a series of spasms. His arms hit the steering wheel, jerking the car left and right, setting off the horn, and ramming the gas.

Desperately, having absolutely no idea what was going on, I reached desperately for the wheel. My seatbelt held me to the seat, with the wheel just out of my grip. I remember the screech of our tress as they ran off the road, that's the last thing before we hit the tree and everything went black.


	5. I Hate Hospitals!

**(A/N) I am so sorry for the long wait. so much has been going on right now, it's hard to find time to do this stuff! Agian, sorry for the wait, and happy Easter!**

**In case you're wondering whats different, I tried my best to fix all the spelling errors, a big shout out to everyone who reviwed and to the-ice-cold-alchemist and Jumpingbeans480 for drawing that to my attention! Thanks for all your sympathy on my cousin and uncle, my uncle just left physical therapy today! :)**

"What happened?" I hear a woman's frantic voice, and she sounds familiar. But my eyes are closed and my ears are ringing, so I can't be sure about that.

"Were not positive about the cause of the accident, but we are sure of Darren's recovery, and are hopeful about Larten's." it was still a woman's voice, but this time it's cold and calculating. And the names, Darren adn Larten, their important, but i don't know why.

"How badly were they injured?" It's a man's voice this time, louder and deeper.

"With Darren there are some minor injuries, the worst being a mild concussion as well as some bruising on his rib cage. He wont even have to stay over night." Darren, there's that name again, why is it so important? "But with Larten....."

The rest of her sentence faded as I blacked out for the second time that night.

* * *

I woke up with a huge glaring light in my face. My head was on fire, and the brilliant light did not help at all. I just laid there for a minute, looking up at the light through squinted eyes and listening to what was going on around me. It took a little while for any of it to really sink in.

I'm in the hospital. The car. Debbie. Larten. The Crash. Oh my god! We were in a car crash! I sat bolt upright, ignoring my brain's scream of protest and looked around for Larten. I didn't see him, but I saw my mom, dad, and Annie, along with a nurse at the far side of the room. I couldn't see them very well, they were all blurry.

"He's awake!" A fuzzy, but familiar voice found it's way from across the room into my head. Like a stampede, tthe whole huddle of people came over to my bed, gathering in a huge ring around me.

"Darren, you're okay!" She hugged me, pulling me tight. That voice, it was the one form my dream, which reminded me of all that had happened.

"Where's Larten?" I mumbled.

"Your brother is in intensive care, prepping for surgery." It was the nurse the same nurse I had heard earlier, only this time I could see her. She reminded me a lot of Mrs. Cartwright, our very straight-forward school nurse.

"Surgery?" My brain wouldn't wrap around facts at the moment, but it did recognize the seriousness of that sentence.

"Yes. Larten sustained more serious injures than yourself during the crash, and they wish to run some tests on him." Had I been able to think straight this nurse probably would have annoyed the hell out of me with all her official talk, but I was a little more worried with other things at the moment.

"How did you know we crashed?" I muttered, trying to focus more agianst my throbbing brain.

"Actually, a friend of yours, Debbie Hemlock, called 9-1-1 after she saw you all crash outside of her house." She explained. "Would you like to see her, she's just downstairs?"

Instead of answering I nodded my head head yes, excited about seeing Debbie, and and nervous about Larten. She ran into the room a few minutes later and came straight over to my bed, pulling me into a secure hug before letting me go. "Darren, you're okay!"

"Yeah, thanks for calling Debbie, you probably saved our lives." I knew I was blushing, and even though I couldn't see her face clearly, I knew Debbie probably was too.

"Had I known you were going to crash, I never would have let you leave!" I knew she was teasing and I had to smile, so did everyone else. We stayed still in a comfortable silence for a few moments before I noticed that the nurse was talking to a doctor a few feet away. She nooded twice, and took a pack of papers from him before coming over to us.

"Mr. and Mrs. Shan, could you come with me please? We have the diagnosis on your son." They moved to leave, and I swung my feet of the bed to follow them. If they thought they were leaving me hear after what had happened, they could think again. "I'm sorry, Darren, but you can not come." The nurse stopped me.

"I coming whether you like it or not. I was in the crash with Larten, and I want to know what happened to him." I stood my ground, no way this lady was keeping me in here.

She looked like she was about to argue, but seeing my face she stopped and turned around, leading us down the hallway. We came to a small office, and as we walked my vision finally cleared enough to let me see almost normally. She led us through a set of double oak doors and down another hallway before we finally came to a small office. It reminded me of the principal's ofice, small and refined.

We sat in overstuffed plush chairs, while she moved around to the small desk. "Now," she started, looking at us. "I'm afriad your son had been diagnosed with Epilepsy."

I heard my parents draw in a shocked breath and my dad wrap an arm around my mother. "The symptoms are usually seizures, mood swings, and almost uncontrollbable muscle movements. Has Larten exhibited any of these behaviors recently?"

I knew my parents were going to say no, in a futile attempt to say nothing was wrong, but I also knew that would be lying, so I answered for them. "He got in a fight at school Friday, because Steve Leopard called Arra a B." I said in a rush. "He's never done that before."

I could feel my parents shocked and betrayed looks burning holes in my flesh, but I decided to ignore them. If it helped Larten, it was worth having my parents pissed at me for a while. "This happened today you say?"

I glanced at the clock, I had only said Friday because I wasn't sure what time it was. It was 11:42, Friday night. "Yeah, it happend today."

She looked at me for a moment, before scrawling down something on a notepad. "In the car, before we crashed, he started like jerking around. That's what moved the steering wheel and caused us to hit the tree." I said it in a rush, as it all flooded back into my brain. Of Larten's glazed look in his eyes. Of reaching for the wheel. Of hitting the tree and the screech of metal before I passed out.

"Thank you Darren." She looked from me to my parents. "The doctors say you can see Larten before surgery, but only for a few minutes."

"Lets go then." It seemed like I was the only one in this family who could talk. My parent stood up, still clinging to each other, and the nurse led us out into the busy hallway. We passed what seemed like a hundred doors with people a hundred different ages. Old men with oxygen tanks, little girls and boys with burns and gas masks. It was extremely depressing, and I would have said it was the saddest thing I'd ever seen until we got to Larten's room.

He was stretched out on teh hospital bed with the anasteshia coming out of a mask that was pulled over his face. He was shirtless, and his upper-body looked awful. Staritng with his face, there was a long white scar on the left half of it, like a twisted smile, and a huge, stiched-up gash above his right eye. His chest was covered in cuts and bruises, giving it a grotesque pattern like a tye-died T-shirt. But the worst was his ribcage and stomach. Most of his ribs were a sickening shade of black, and you could see where he had had his seatbelt on, becuase it left a big blue band across his incredibley pale skin. Acoss his stomach, over his abdomen was a jagged cut, like a huge lightening blot that had more than likely come form the metal from the hood of the car being crushed up agianst us.

I realized how lucky I was to be injured so little. Or to even be alive for that matter. While my parents moved up to him, I looked over at the medical chart on the wall. "Surgery needed for: internal bleeding; damaged ribcage; and severed muscles. Time: 2hours, 30 minutes." Looking at it made my stomach roll, so without saying anything I ran from the room.

I went all the way back to my room, where Annie and Debbie were at. But they weren't the only ones. Arra Sails was with them.

They all turned around to me as I walked in, breathless and on the verge of crying. "How does he look" Debbie asked softly, coming over to put an arm around me.

"Awful." I looed at Arra, she looked almost in shock and scared. For the first time since I had met her, she looked scared. "They say he has Epilepsy. And he has to have surgery for internal bleeding and his ribs and his muscles."

Nobody said anything, but the sadness built up in thte room was almost to much to bear. The tension was thick and it was making my head hurt. "The nurse came back and told me to take you guys down to get something to eat from the cafeteria." It was Arra, speaking softly and fragily.

I nodded my head, still seeing my brother. Vulnerable and helpless on his hospital bed. I let Debbie support me down the hall to the elevator, while Arra led Annie in front of us. The cafeteria was bustling with activity, everyone chattering and eating and having a good time. How could everything be so normal, when it seemed everything was falling apart?

I sat at a booth, with a Pepsi, and my sister, while Debbie and Arra went to get pizza slices for all of us. Five minutes later, there were four slices of peperoni in forn tof us, that no one was eating. I picked at mine with a plastic fork and drank my Pepsi, not really focusing. I saw Annie tear off some of hers, then drop it back on the table.

"Darren, you have to eat. The nurse said you need to keep your strength up." Arra said, and to encourage me, took a bite off the end of her pizza. I could see her forcing it down like a mouthful of sand, but I figured I owed her and she was right so I picked up mine. Nibbling the end of the triangle off, Debbie follwed suit, and Annie picked hers up, folded it in half, and took a bite.

"Will Larten be okay?" Annie asked, her high pitched voice strained.

"I hope so Annie." I said at the same time Debbie said, "Of course he will."

I looked at her, and she looked at me, neither of us really sure what to do know. So I tooka big drink, and averted my eyes.

Debbie took in a long breath, laying her pizza down on the table. Announcing to no one in particular she said, "God, I hate Hospitals!"

**(A/N) This chapter is dedicated to my cousin, who was recently diagnosed with epilepsy, adn my Uncle who had a stroke last weekend. Please R&R, I love reviews, they make me smile! **


	6. Reassurance

As soon as Debbie got done saying that, it seemed like the entire cafeteria went quiet, even though, in reality, it didn't. People were still chattering around us, but everyone at our table had gone stony silent. Arra's pizza was halfway to her mouth, a piece of pepperoni hung suspended in Annie's fingers, and my straw kept bumping in to my mouth.

"You shouldn't say that Debbie." Annie's voice was quiet. "You're not supposed to hate things."

"I'm sorry, Annie." She glanced at me, before meeting Annie's terrified gaze head on. She let out a long sigh, taking in Annie's terrified face, before she lifted her pizza and took a bite as a comforting gesture.

Annie moved her gaze form the Debbie to the pepperoni in her hand, before she dropped it on her plate and a few tears leaked out of the sides of her eyes. "I want to go home." She crossed her arms and ducked her head.

I didn't know what to say, but I figured anything would work at this point. "Why don't we go back upstairs with mom and dad?" I looked at my sister, still crying, "What about that Annie?"

She nodded her head, before Arra gathered up the plates of half-eaten pizza and we got up to leave. Annie clung to my hand painfully, but I didn't say anything I let her hold on like she used to do in kindergarten. Debbie and Arra led the way to the elevator as I half-dragged Annie with us, but I didn't really mind, seeing her cry was awful, if only because she was reflecting what we all felt but wouldn't show.

We stepped back into the room where we had been to see my parents waiting on us to get back, with some visitors. "We are very sorry about Larten, Mr. and Mrs. Shan." It was Seba Nile, with Arrow and Mika Ver Leth.

"Thank you." My mom choked out on sobs. "I don't believe we've ever met. Do you know Larten?"

"To an extent." Seba smiled. "Another student will be arriving shortly, Paris Skyle, he had to come late because of his own family issues."

My mom looked confused, but she didn't push or ask any questions. As far as she was concerned, these people were Larten's friends and had every right to be here. That didn't help my confusion in the slightest. "Seba? Seba Nile?" That was Arra, not me like I was going to say.

"Arra Sails." He smiled a small smile and nodded to her. "We'll be in the hallway." I guess he could tell this was starting to be a little weird, and all three four them stepped into the hallway.

"We ate some pizza." I told mom and dad, it wasn't exactly a lie, and thy nodded. Annie let go of my hand, and ran over to them, clinging to my father for dear life while he picked her up off the floor and cradled her in his arms.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, the tension thick in the air, until a doctor burst through the door. We all stared at him in worry, but he shook his head, indicating nothing was wrong. "We found this on Larten during the first section of his surgery." He held out his hand to reveal a ring with a single diamond glittering in his palm. We all stared at it for a second, before Arra spoke up.

"That's mine; I gave it to him at the restaurant." She said, extending a hand for the doctor to place the ring into. He nodded and handed it to her.

"Surgery is going good, he should be done in about ten minutes." With that the doctor left the room, his white coat gleaming like the man on the Cheer commercial. Arra watched him go then turned around to face everyone.

"Why don't me and Darren go get everyone something to drink?" She said, looking over at the faces of my family before looking at me. I knew something was up, but I didn't know what. I took a drink tab, even though everyone wanted regulars, even the guys out in the hall, then me and Arra headed down the hall.

She didn't say anything until we clabbered onto an empty elevator. She pressed the bottom button, and just let me say, hospital elevators are incredible slow. I guess it's so they don't rattle the patients to bad, but for whatever reason we were moving the speed of a sleeping slug.

She pulled the ring out of her pocket and spun it between her fingers, rubbing her index finger over the sparkling diamond. "Do you know what this is Darren?" She said quietly, forming a fist over it.

"A ring." It wasn't the answer she wanted, but it was the only one I had for her. She looked at me, obviously upset.

"What kind of ring is it Darren?" She sounded desperate, so I looked at the ring again. It had a single diamond in the middle, held on by a cast of silver that was attached to the band. It looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.

The elevator doors sprang open after about a minute of awkward, tense silence. I breathed a sigh of relief as we got off to let a man and his wife on, but I kept thinking about the ring. I didn't say anything, and I didn't look at Arra all the way to the drink coolers, and again to the check-out counter.

A woman in her early twenties was working the counter. "Nice ring," Arra said, I froze up because I knew she'd mentioned it on purpose. I glanced at the woman's hand; on it was a ring that looked exactly like the one Arra was holding.

"Thank you," The woman "Cindy" said. "I'm getting married next month. "

If hell could freeze over, it happened right then.

* * *

We were standing in the slow-moving elevator again, and it felt small and cramped. For the first time in my life, I was claustrophobic. Even the icy cold pop in my hands felt warm and sticky, like heated bubble gum.

"Is that an engagement ring, Arra?" I finally managed to choke out.

"I seriously think it is." She said, and I watched her look back down at it. "It certainly looks like one."

I thought about it for a minute, and came up with the flaw in her reasoning. "If that's an engagement ring, then why would Larten invite me to come with you guys?"

She looked stumped for a minute, almost relieved, but then her face got paler. "Well, generally when you get….Engaged" She choked the word out of her throat. "You do invite family members, or close friends."

I closed my mouth with the reply that was burning to come out, because I knew she was right. My dad had literally invited everyone he knew to his proposal, mom's family and his, Larten had told me. That seemed like so long ago, but so important. Like a name that you needed to now, but couldn't quite remember.

The elevator stopped, and me and Arra stepped off, carrying our cold drinks. My hands were sweating, but hopefully no one would notice because of the condensation on the outside of the cups. We handed the guys in the hall their cups, and Seba smiled that odd, little, reassuring smile at us, before we turned back into the room.

My parents were sitting on the bed, with Annie fast asleep in between them. She had cried herself to sleep while we had been gone, and I felt a twinge of jealousy, seeing her at peace, while I was dealing with all the other crap that was going on. But then again, I never wanted to be a nine-year-old girl, so it's all good.

We handed mom and dad there drinks, and we all sat in companionable silence as we waited on the surgery to be over and the doctor to show up. I kept glancing at Arra and at her tightly clenched fist that held the ring. I had just been in a car accident, but that didn't scare me half as much as that ring did. It would change everything, and I do mean everything.

"Shan family, I have some good news!" The same doctor form before came in, only he was smiling and didn't look nearly as cold-hearted. We all looked up at him, raising our eyebrows in unison, except for Annie who was still asleep.

"Larten made it through surgery without any problems, and he just woke up." My mother visibly relaxed, leaning over Annie to lay her head on my father's shoulder. "You can see him two at a time. He stepped out, letting us gather our thoughts and wrap our heads around the latest news.

"You guys go see him first," I said to mom and dad, "Me and Arra will stay here with Annie."

They smiled, and left, with my mom smiling and holding my dad's hand the whole way out the door. I watched them go, before I looked over at Arra. She was rolling the ring in between her fingers, like she was trying to memorize how it felt.

"It would have been alright, you know." I said, and she looked up at me.

"What would have been alright?" She asks, stilling the ring in her palm again.

"If you and Larten were engaged." She doesn't say anything, and we sit in silence as she looks at the ring. "I would support you."

I look around when she lifts her gaze, not to me, but to look off into space, her gaze not really fixed on anything. I see Debbie in the corner, pretending to read a magazine when I know she's listening to us talk. I get up and walk over to her, sitting down in the hard backed chair next to her.

She looks up at me, putting down her magazine, before she reaches over and takes my hand in hers. We sit just like that, like everything is okay, and none of this is really happening. It's just us, and we're in our own perfect world. But the doctor breaks it, coming in with my parents.

"Alright, next two.' My mother whispers thanks to Arra and sits down on the bed. Arra looks at me, and nods at me to go next. Debbie breaks away her hand from mine and stays sitting while I go to check on my brother.

He's lying in a different room than last time, and has way less machinery hooked up to him this time. Just an IV and some sort of breathing machine that goes in his nose instead of covering his mouth. He's got a thin T-shirt on, and a pair of NASCAR pajama pants that I know mom brought with her, because their mine, and she can't tell our clothes apart.

"Hey Larten," I walk over to his bed and he looks at me, and smiles, showing half his teeth. The left side of his mouth turns up, and the long scar on his face seems to stretch his grin all the way up that side of his face. Not a pretty effect.

"How's it goin' Darren?" His voice is a little rough, but it sounds close enough to the Larten I know that everything's going to be fine, and I fell a really weird urge just to hug him.

"All right, nothing big really. I was just in a car crash." I grin and he laughs a little.

"I banged us up pretty good didn't I?" He smiles, and we talk for a few minutes before I have to ask him, or I'll explode.

"Were you going to propose to Arra?": I blurt it out, loud. My eyes are wide, and my mouth is small, his eyes get bigger and bigger.

"Hoe did you know, Darren?" He asks softly, as he closes his eyes and lets his head fall back to the pillow.

"The doctor found the ring, Arra said it was hers, and then the lady in the cafeteria, and the elevator, and the Pepsi." I'm rambling, but he has his eyes, closed.

"Larten," I whisper. "It's fine with me if you want to marry Arra. I know you love her, and I know she loves you, that much is obvious."

He opens his eyes and looks at me. I see a question forming on his lips when the doctor interrupts. "Time's up, young man."

I walk out, and Arra walks in. The doctors leaves, and I see Seba's group standing in the hallway. I go over next to them, as Arra walks into the room and shuts the door behind her, leaving us alone outside.

Seba doesn't say anything, Arrow doesn't say anything, Mika doesn't say anything, and naturally, yours truly, says absolutely nothing. After five good minutes of standing, doing nothing, it feels like Arra has gotten way longer in there than I did. So, I decided to walk over to the door.

I look in through the small rectangle window and see an almost mirror of what I saw yesterday in the car, except, Larten's leaning back on his hands, and Arra's hands are on either side of the bed as they kiss.

As awkward as that was, which is very, its reassurance. Reassurance that everything is okay. Reassurance that everything is going to be fine.

Reassurance that life goes on.

**(A/N) First off, so sorrry for the long wait!**

**Second, my Uncle has graduated form Rehab! **

**Third, I want oyu to vote either by PM, or review, what you think the most romantic place is: Park, Restaurant, Movie theater, House, or car? Pick one and tell me!**


	7. You Can't Have Your Cake and Eat it To

I sit in the backseat of the car, squished between Larten and the door, and look over at Arra on the other side of him. She doesn't look at me; however, and that's probably on purpose. I decide to try not to think about it, and instead I focus on trying to wiggle my way around so that Larten's bony elbow isn't digging into my ribs like a nail.

It's Sunday, less than 48 hours from the time of the accident, and were already being able to go home. Apparently, Larten has such a hard head (just kidding) that there was no permanent damage to his skull or brain, and the only really lasting effect will be the trauma for me, him, and Debbie, and the huge scar that is now decorating the left half of his face. Every time he smiles, which is often because he's sitting next to Arra and has no idea that she knows he had a ring to give her, the scar pulls all the way up to the corner of his left eye, like someone's clown make-up gone wrong.

We pull into the driveway, and with every gravel we hit, the more smushed against the door I get because my older brother keeps leaning against me to prevent squishing the love of his life sitting to his right. But that's okay. Mostly because we're alive.

A huge red pick-up and a tiny black Camry follow us into the driveway where Larten's car used to be parked and where dad's car was parked except he came home and moved it into the yard so that company would have room to park when mom planned to have a party for Larten getting to come home. We push out of the car, me gasping for air, and Larten and Arra holding hands while out of the pick-up climb Seba, Mika ver Leth and Arrow whatever-his-last-name-is, and Debbie and her parents unloaded out of the Camry.

"Alright everybody, come this way please." My mom calls to everyone and waves us toward the house, taking Annie with her. I walk beside Debbie, behind Arra and Larten, while her parents go to walk with my mom and dad. Larten's got his head close to Arra's, whispering something that's more than likely cheesy and grossly romantic. Debbie nudges me with her elbow, and I lean my head in.

"Let's get closer to them," I open my mouth to ask a question that she never lets me get out, we just pick up the pace, speeding ahead until were only about a foot behind them. Debbie cups her hands around her mouth, and gets right up level with their ears, even though they still haven't noticed us.

"NO PDA!" She yells, and I about die laughing. Everyone on the poor whips around to see Larten and Arra close enough to hold a People between them, with Larten the same color as his hair, and Arra glaring at us with two dark gray suns of anger. But we don't care. Debbie and I are holding each other, laughing till were about to fall over, till Larten comes up and floors me in the stomach, knocking the living shit out of me.

I cough, trying to get back my winded breath and not succeeding, so I just wave my arm like a schizophrenic. My mom smiles and rolls her eyes at us while my dad unlocks the door to let everyone else inside the house. Debbie laughs at me, before pulling me in the house with her and grabbing me a bottle of water from where we keep them in the floor. I chug it, swallowing big gulps till I can breathe easy through my nose, and set it down.

"Thanks," I say, and she smirks before following the crowd and going into the kitchen. Everyone is sitting at the table, the lovebirds are practically sharing a chair, and my mom is cutting into what has to be the biggest ice cream cake ever seen. It says, "Welcome Home Larten and Darren" in huge chocolate icing, and had some red design littered around the edge of the cake and looks like its melted the tiniest bit because some icing has leaked down the edge of the cake, which kind of makes it looks like its covered in paper-cuts. But it does look delicious, so I'm not really judging.

Cutting slices big enough for two grown men, mom hands out the cake, talking with Debbie's parents while alternately reaching over to ruffle Larten's hair. I was smart enough to sit at the opposite end of the table; my hair has remained unruffled, and naturally wild as always.

I talk to Debbie in between huge bites of cake, which is some kind of weird fudge and strawberry hybrid that tastes like a sundae. Everyone is happy for the first time all weekend, and Jesse and Donna, who won't let anyone call them Mr. and Mrs. Hemlock, are really lightning the mood. There funny and sort of disturbingly optimistic, which really makes everyone feel better. They also don't act all superior because they have money; in fact money never even comes up, not that anyone thought it would.

I polish off another slice of cake until I decide that eating too much ice cream can't be good for my stomach, plus I'm starting to feel like I have to burp, which would suck considering the fact that Debbie is here. Mom starts collecting all the plates, and Arra gets up to help her. As I eat my last bite of cake, I see Arra hit the edge of the table with her hip, jerking her backwards.

My blood runs cold as the ice cream in the cake as I, along with everyone in the room, watch the tiny diamond ring bang over and over against the hardwood, sparkling as it finally comes to a stop in the sun.

"So," Jesse says, looking at Arra, and gazing around at the rest of us, "When's the big day?"

The good mood has been shot to hell.

(A/N) It's me, finally back; sorry this chapter was so long in the making. My grandma is in horrible shape, she had to have an emergency amputation and all sorts of stuff from every level of hell. Plus our internet has been down for almost two weeks, I think the last time I was able to get on was when I posted that one shot quite a while ago. Anyway, thanks for sticking with me, and I hope this chapter is worth it.


	8. 42

The next time Mr. Tiny wants everyone to be quiet at an assembly; all he has to do is whip out an engagement ring because it does a pretty good job of shutting everyone up. That ring just sat on the floor, everyone frozen except Annie, who just continued to chow down on her cake like no-man's business.

"I…That's not mine." Arra finally spoke and it broke the trance that had hold of everyone. "It's my cousins. She came by the hospital and gave it to me." Okay, so Arra gets the award for dumbest excuse ever invented.

"Why would your cousin give you her engagement ring?" Mom spoke now, obviously not buying the obvious load of bull-crap Arra was saying. "It seems like she should wear it, don't you think?"

"She broke of her engagement. He was cheating with the receptionist, and she wanted to get rid of the ring." Arra said, speaking faster now as the story just started flowing. "Darren met her, she came to the cafeteria when I texted her where I was."

Everyone looked at me now, and I swear I could have strangled Arra, but Larten was looking at me too, his eyes begging me to lie for him. "Ummm, yeah. It was Penelope, she seemed a bit disturbed."

My mom and dad looked at me like they were trying to dissect my face, and I tried to hold there gaze. "Okay. What are you going to do with it Arra?" We weren't home free yet, but me being involved was helping mom believe it, because I am so obviously the angel child in this family.

"I was thinking of just giving it back to her honestly, I don't have much use for it." Arra said, her voice back to normal as she scooped it up off the floor and put it back in her pocket. "Or I might sell it at Cash for Gold." Everyone laughed but me and Annie, Annie didn't understand why that was supposed to be funny, and I couldn't stop smiling like an old woman with way to much Botox.

Larten got up and started getting all the used plates from the table, and Arra got the forks while the rest of us just kind of sat there, not exactly knowing what to say at this point. Actually I didn't say anything because I was afraid I would completely screw up the lie about Penelope and her imaginary fiancé, and I wanted more cake but didn't want to seem like a pig in a room of people I don't know. Finally Jesse, Debbie's dad, starts the conversation back up with talks of a Labor Day cookout we could all have, even Seba, Arrow, and Mika who have said absolutely zero words other than "Thank You" since we got here.

My parents were all chatty and the mood went from suspicious to coffee shop mode, where everyone talks about the random crap that makes up life while they eat dessert. But even that doesn't last very long.

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Shan, but we had better leave seeing as I have to get home soon." Seba spoke now, smiling, and then turned out the front door, followed by his cronies. WE watched them go. To be honest, we were starting to stare at people in unison so much that we are starting to look like the nuts who hang out in the movie theatre so much they just move their head with the people on the screen.

"There's something odd about those boys Larten. Do you know them well?" Mom asked Larten, but Arra answered for him.

"Seba's valedictorian this year. He's starting as a sophomore at the State University next year. He's been trying to get Larten to join a couple of clubs this year, and now they're friends." She said, and then turned back to dry the plates that Larten finished washing, and to stick the forks into the dish-machine.

Dad shrugged and took a swig of his water, but mom kept that odd look on her face, like she didn't really understand the odd connection between her son and the boys that had just left.

"They're kind of reclusive, mom," I said, standing up from the table. "Can me and Debbie go upstairs?"

"Is your room clean, honey?" Don't you just love moms? Does she really think I would let my girlfriend go up there and see dirty clothes and food all over the floor? The world may never know. I rolled my eyes and we headed up the stairs, almost tripping over the stairs in our hurry to get away from the kitchen.

I find it weird how after something so big that's happened, there is always part of your life that is not affected. My room looks exactly the same as it did when I was in here Friday night; the room has not been affected by the accident at all. My backpack is still leaning up against the dresser, my iPod is still plugged in to the wall charger and if the battery is not full by now we're going to have some issues, and my bed is still unmade as ever.

"I like the color, and the buddy picture." Debbie said, flopping down on my bed like this was no big deal, even though this was the first girl I've had in my room since my cousin Carol his from her parents in my closet.

"Thanks. Green was my favorite color as a kid, still is actually." I sat down next to her, leaning forward with my hands in my pockets, suddenly embarrassed by the other posters I had in here, well not the one of Denzel Washington, but the ones with women on them.

"My rooms purple, can you believe that?" Debbie leaned back and smiled. "My mom thought I liked purple because I used to watch Barney, so everything I had as a child looks like some kind of eggplant byproduct." We laughed, and my embarrassment left, no use worrying over something I couldn't change.

"DEBBIE! We have to go! Grandma Victoria is coming over for dinner later!" A yell from Debbie's mom floated up the stairs, causing Debbie to shake her head. I laughed at her, it was funny.

"Someone needs to get that woman some pills." Debbie hopped up and I followed her downstairs. "See you tomorrow Darren."

I waved as they drove down the road with the windows rolled down and Journey playing on the stereo.

The first thing I did when I went back inside was take a shower. The second thing I did was change my Facebook status from "single" to "in a relationship with Debbie Hemlock". That got 42 likes.

**(A/N) Don't own Facebook, duh. Hope this chapter was worth the wait. Don't worry, the intensity will pick back up later. And if anyone can tell me why 42 is the coolest number ever, you get a virtual cookie.**


	9. Ignorance is Bliss

Monday at school was like walking into a completely different world. So many people were coming up to me, the guys with congrats on surviving (and getting a girlfriend) and the girls were giving me sympathy for almost dying. I got a lot of chocolate, and one of Harkat's new friends from his English class even bought me a pop at walk-break. I; however, was just a shadow when compared to all the attention Larten got.

He's never liked being around big groups of people, so it was kind of funny to see him squirm when random chicks came up and hugged him. One girl even offered to carry around his fifty pounds worth of crap all day, but he politely sprinted away down the hall. But even though everyone was feeling sorry for him, they also looked kind of scared of him, like he would spaz out at any moment and kill one of them, and the scar didn't help anything at all.

Even after three days, it had healed a significant amount, even though the doctor said that it would be permanent, but healed didn't mean attractive. It sliced upward from the side of his chin to a little bit past his eyebrow and was a deep red, like one of those scars that never turns pink or white, it just stays red. Arra and Debbie were the only non-family members who didn't seem to be affected by it, even the teachers kind of looked at it nervously. But he didn't really seem to care, either, every time I saw him throughout the day he was holding hands and walking, or standing, with Arra.

Me and Debbie; however, had taken over the spot of the "it" couple. We walked like Brad and Angie on the red carpet, holding hands and acting tough. That is until Mr. Tiny told us (and I quote) "You may hold hands and nothing else, Mr. Shan. Ladies and gentlemen need to behave as such." Then he winked like a creeper and waddled off down the hall, but it did succeed in getting us a little bit non-plastered to each other, at least for about five minutes.

"So, do you want to come over for dinner tomorrow?" Debbie asked as we headed to final block.

"Sure, but I have to clear it with mom and dad first." I answered, squeezing her hand a little.

"Alright. Jesse and Donna just want to meet you now that we're officially a "thing" even though mom says she figured it out the first time I talked about you."

I chuckled a little bit. "And when was that, when I almost got killed by a flying lunch tray?"\

"Exactly, I told her that you were definitely the most interesting person I had met, well maybe Harkat has you beat. That boy is five feet of pure energy!" We laughed and headed into class, sitting down in our desks as the teacher passed out papers for our assignments.

Class flew by, something about negative reciprocals and shit like that, I didn't really pay attention. I was just happy to be done with the day, even though it meant that I wouldn't see Debbie until tomorrow. I did get to watch her leave the parking lot, where Jesse and Donna waved at me where I sat in Larten's car, waiting on him to get out of the freaking school.

I waved back and grinned, while Debbie rolled her eyes at them, putting the earbuds in for her iPod. I sat in the car for at least twenty minutes after they left. Normally, Larten would just come out of the building about 3:10, but it was almost a quarter-till and he still hadn't come out. It was hotter than a Dutch oven it that new car of his, so I decided to get out and start my manhunt.

No one was in the lobby of school, like seriously, no one was there, not even Mr. Hunt the security guard who sits there and eats a corndog every day for lunch. I looked down all the halls, but I didn't see him, so I just decided to head out and see what I could find. I didn't see a soul until I got to the back of the main hall, way back where the old doors were from before they remodeled. And I didn't exactly see anyone, at least not at first.

I heard something to be exact. A low sounds, like something in pain, it froze my blood like a bath in ice. Someone was crying, a lot. I walked down the hall, the noise getting closer as I came to Mrs. French's room, Larten and Arra's last block class. I looked in through the door, and saw my brother and his girlfriend. She was crying.

Arra, who never got upset at anything. Arra, who had taken a basketball to the face the first game of the season and had barely even flinched. Arra, who been with us all week in the hospital all weekend and hadn't uttered the smallest sound. And here she was, the tears pouring down her face like tiny waterfalls.

Larten was talking to her, even though I couldn't hear what they were saying through the door. He had his arms around her, wiping the tears off her face as he talked to her, but I wondered exactly what they were talking about. I hadn't seen anyone that upset since Annie found out that dad had lied about getting her Justin Bieber tickets last summer for her birthday.

Larten took her hand and before I could even realize what was going on, his eyes met mine as he pulled her towards the door, freezing him and me for half a second of time, staring at each other like long lost twins. Then I ran.

And I didn't stop until I was buckled into the car.

(A/N) OMG! What's wrong with Arra? Sorry if this chapter was a little shorter and a little lower quality, I tried to make it cool, but this one didn't involve near as much talking as the rest of them. Still hope you enjoyed, I do plan to make updates more evenly paced and not nearly as sporadic. I appreciate reviews, thanks for reading


	10. Spoons and Spatulas

I honestly thought Larten would kill me when he got to the car, but he did the opposite. He completely ignored my existence. Not in the "I'm so pissed I can't talk" kind of way but in the "I'm Larten and have a lot on my mind" kind of way. I didn't say anything, I just leaned my head against the window, covering my right eye in brown hair, showing I was in definite need of a trim, but I really didn't care enough to tell mom about it.

We drove home in silence until we actually turned on our road and awkward fifteen minutes later. "I'm not upset at you, Darren." And how exactly does he expect me to respond to that?

"Oh." I pulled my head off the window and looked at my brother, driving with one hand, leaning on the other, he just needed a phone and sunglasses and he could be a genuine hipster. "That's great."

When we finally pulled into the driveway, I ran as fast as I could from that car, hiding in my room from mom, dad, and Annie. I flopped on the bed like a sloth and shot Harkat and Debbie a text. I didn't really want to talk to anyone, but Debbie was my girlfriend, and Harkat was my best friend, so I owed them something. "Darren! Phone call!"

I rolled off the bed, too lazy to stand up, and literally crawled on my knees to my dresser where my phone was. "Hullo, its Darren."

"Hey! Did you ask your mom about dinner tomorrow?" Debbie's voice came over the line, immediately making me feel better, even though Arra was nagging at the back of my mind like an itch.

"Shit!" Debbie laughed, and I blushed a little bit. "No, I haven't talked to her yet. I'll do that, and text you later."

"Alright, well I've got to go, mom has attempted to make chicken, and I'm gonna go have to save dinner here. Bye, Darren." I didn't even have time to answer; she just hung up on me. I have to have the strangest relationship ever. Aren't I supposed to get my piece? Or is that just dead, like chivalry?

Ah, forget it, it's not that important. I swung the door of my room open, taking the stairs two at a time and walking through our dining room to where mom was stirring a vat of taco soup, big enough for a small army, on our stove. "Hey mom."

"Hi, sweetie, do you know what's wrong with your brother?" Alright mom, my day was nice too.

"Upset stomach, I figure." I leaned against the counter, breathing in deep, pepper-filled fumes. "Can I go eat with Debbie and her family tomorrow?"

"Why not? Of course, you'll have to get money from your father; I don't have time to go to the bank." She stepped around me and reached into our cabinet, grabbing a box of taco shells we'd had since before Annie was born and laid them out on a cookie sheet.

"Thanks." I gave her a hug, I mean come on, everybody hugs there mom. "Want me to crush the shells up?

She handed me the meat mallet and flicked on the radio, giving me free rain over the shells. Three wacks and we had a plate full of tortilla chips. She slid them into the oven, yelled to the rest of our family that there were ten minutes until dinner, and then the song came on. Not just any song, but the song.

Bonnie Tyler and Meatloaf "Total Eclipse of the Heart", mom and dad's wedding song, and possible one of the greatest songs that didn't come from Poison. I grabbed a spatula, mom took a spoon, and we just had time to laugh before the words started.

"Turn around." My voice would never be as high as Meatloaf's, but I could try.

"Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you never come around!" Mom belted out Bonnie Tyler, punching her hand into the air, almost catching the taco soup.

"Turn around." And so on, we got all the way to the chorus.

"And I need you now tonight, and I need you more than ever, and if you only hold me tight, we'll be holdin' on forever!" Larten had the misfortune of walking in at this moment, both of us singing and me jamming on the spatula guitar.

Mom handed him a spoon, but he just sat at the table, rolling his eyes like a prat. We kept singing, Bonnie Tyler had nothing on us, and it wasn't until the final "A total eclipse of the heart" that Larten joined in, his voice scratchy as always.

He took up a pair of spoons and started playing the slow drums on the table, singing with me on the Meatloaf parts, and rocking his head dramatically.

We were quite the sight when Arra showed up about fifteen seconds later, Annie unknowingly letting her in. "Should I come back?"

Mom and me collapsed laughing, and Larten turned the exact shade of his hair.

(A/N) So yeah, first update in forever, but I have been gone, as in away form a computer, for a long time. Hope this was worth it, I love this song, and if you haven't heard it, I suggest you listen to it, and I just thought we could use a little bit of comic relief. Dinner with the family next chapter, and hints at what's wrong with Arra throughout the next two, the answer in the third. If you think you know, PM me, don't put it in a review! But I will tell you if you're right Read and Review


	11. College and Courting

Arra and Larten were sitting next to each other, across from me and Annie, who was humming a song from some British boy band that was really making me consider stabbing her with my fork. Mom and dad were trying to hold up conversation, badly, I might add. Corny number processing jokes courtesy of dad were killing the mood even though mom's homemade tacos were the chizz. Enough taco seasoning, yet not too salty, enough meat, but not soggy, and loads of cheese. Because, who doesn't love taco-nachos with some much cheese you can't tell what it is you're eating?

"So, Arra, how are your parents doing?" mom said, finally silencing my father.

"They're doing good; they're considering adding a second office, one run by mom and the other by dad. But they said they'd miss working together so they'll probably wait until I get old enough." Arra said. "These nachos are amazing."

"Thanks." Mom blushed, if you complemented her cooking, she would shower you with affection and never let you forget that you said it. I learned my lesson when I once said the meatloaf wasn't _too _burnt and we ate on it for a week. "And where were you looking at for school?"

Arra swapped a look with Larten and took a bite before answering. "Somewhere close."

"We were both looking at Weston." Larten said, not smiling like he usually does when Arra mentions some joint decision they've made. My father was nodding, his fork bobbing along with his head.

"Weston's a good school." He looked at the two of them. "Free housing, too." Weston is probably half-an-hour from our house, if you're driving the speed of a frozen turtle with gum stuck to its feet. I always figured Larten might go there, save some money, but Arra can afford full tuition and housing somewhere else. I wonder why she was.

"How are you going to study and live at home, Arra?" Mom asked. Now it's not that she doesn't like Arra, she does, it's just I think she gets a bit jealous is all, Larten being her first born son and all. I'm the second boy, also known as Darren "Chopped Liver" Shan; Annie is the princess of this congregation.

"I wasn't planning on living at home, actually."

"In a dorm then. Why?" Dad asked, his math brain working out the cost-benefit analysis.

"No, not in a dorm. In a house." Arra said, taking another bite to keep from having to explain.

"And your parents bought you a house?" Mom said. "Where at?"

"It's not just for me. It's actually for three people, really." She said, and Larten put down his fork gently, putting his hand under the table to hold Arra's hand. "Me, Larten, and either Olivia or Maddox."

I kid you not; my mother spit a nacho out of her mouth all the way onto my father's shirt. Not that he reacted any better, almost swallowing his fork and coughing for a good minute and a half.

"What? What do you mean by that?"

Annie rolled her eyes, "Duh, Mom, she means she's going to have a baby." I almost laughed, but that would be inappropriate. I wish I could say I was surprised, but after all the shit that's gone down in the last couple of weeks, I'm not really. Larten pulled both of their hands form under the table, showing Arra's new shiny ring finger.

"How- How far- How far along-are you? My father managed to choke it out of himself.

"2 months." In seven months, I was going to be an uncle. "The house is ready; Larten and I are getting married in December."

My mother was crying, literally. And it was one of those woman things, I didn't know if she was happy, sad, murderous, or allergenic. "Be happy, mom. Arra's parents are going to help and college isn't an issue."

"It is an issue, Larten! This is your life!" She was wailing, and I nudged Annie, gesturing that we should leave. She stood, not about to leave her nachos and took them with her to the living room where we sat on the couch, trying to ignore the kitchen commotion. There was yelling and frustration and plenty of anger. I think I heard a chair throwing

"Darren!" I leapt off the couch; thank god Annie had finished her food. "Could you come in here? Without the yelling, I could tell it was Arra. I walked toward eminent doom, dragging my feet.

I opened the door to the kitchen, mom was clinging to dad, and sobbing, Arra and Larten were standing, holding hands in defiance even though Arra had tears in the corner of her eyes (which she would kill me for bringing up). "Darren, when the babies born, we'd like you to be the godfather." Larten said, looking up at me with his green eyes dark with some emotion I didn't recognize.

I looked at mom, staring at me like if I accepted; it would be the worst thing to ever happen to her. But how could I say no. I looked up at dad, he nodded at me. "Sure," I said. Mom buried her head farther into dad's shoulder.

Larten nodded at me, and Arra smiled behind her tears. "I'm taking Arra home." He grabbed his key lanyard and they went out the door. "You did the right thing, Darren." Dad said, rocking mom gently back and forth. "Your sister didn't need to see that."

Okay, so maybe I'm not chopped liver anymore. I've moved up the totem pole now that Larten's engaged. I am now cubed bologna.

(A/N) Holy crap this has been a long time coming, and for that I am eternally sorry. Hope this was an enjoyable chapter, answers some if not all of your questions, and we can now move forward with life. R and R and R as always. (Read, review, Relax)


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